Creative Endeavours

Medallion Quilt

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Here, finally, is the completed, bound quilt. Just finished stitching the curlicues in the center of the medallion. In the end I straight stitched them on the machine, a couple of stitches at a time, in order to stay on the edge of the curlicue. I had set up a single run design to stitch them out as embroideries, but each of the four corners was slightly different, and I couldn’t align the first embroidery to stitch precisely where I wanted it, so I switched to plan “b”. It took lots of twisting and turning of the quilt (thank goodness it wasn’t any larger) to get each curlicue done.

Quilt Back

I used leftovers from the outer border strips to create blocks for the back. Their off center placement is intentional. I could have placed them somewhat closer to one another, but once the back was pinned in place I decided not to bother taking the whole thing apart to make that small adjustment.

Close-up detail of one corner – showing the embroidery in some of the “empty” blocks.

Corner, Showing Detail

The embroideries worked out well – I did seventeen in all (one a test run to make sure the design stitched out correctly). Doing the embroidery proved challenging, not because they were particularly complex designs, but because my embroidery machine decided, at that moment, to be temperamental – the touch screen stopped working properly and precisely positioning each embroidery took patience. (The embroidery machine is now in hospital being repaired and I’m working on a borrowed machine.)

The quilt still needs a label but that can wait until I get my machine back.

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I adjusted the final corner within the block so that it was better balanced without affecting the outer dimensions. Then I added the outer border, complete with mitred corners. Quilt still square, Yeah! I’ve intended the quilt to be a lap quilt. However, while the finished size (63″ x 63″) is not a full double/queen size it could certainly be used as a colourful spread to focus attention on a bed.

Now I have to think about the back of the quilt. I have a complementary fabric double width so I could just cut the size I need and be done with it, but before I do that I will go through the scraps and other leftover fabric to see if there is some kind of strip I can cobble together to add interest to the back of the quilt. But that’s for another day – likely tomorrow.

Melanie McNeil asked if I was pleased with my efforts – now I can definitely say I am.

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Just finished the third corner – one to go; however, I’m thinking I may have to redo the first corner (upper left) because when I’ve finished the fourth I think I’m going to be short on the first side and the panel isn’t going to be square – I might be off as much as 3/4″! Here’s hoping I’m not. 3/8″ – 1/2″ I can fudge when adding the outside border, but more than that will want a redo.

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I have finally got this corner to lay flat – it’s been a challenge getting the sizes of all the elements precise. I’ve sewn, picked out seams, sewn, picked out seams at least three times making small adjustments until I’ve been able to get this corner to work. It’s not perfect but it’s close enough that when the quilt is done and the wide patterned border is added nobody is going to notice the imperfections.

Three more corners to go.

What’s made the piecing so difficult is I wanted the seminole strip to extend past what would have been natural piecing lines so that it remained in one piece. That’s meant fitting overlapping pieces from the upper left to the bottom right. Partial seams everywhere. I’ve discovered I’m getting better results by sewing each seam, then opening the end where I need to make a join, then re-sewing the seam. And scant 1/4″ seams is crucial – by stitching them just a hint under 1/4″ I have been able to align elements where corners need to meet. Very painstaking work. Probably never do another quilt like this again!

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I can go no further until I do the embroidery on the remaining three corners and piece the seminole strips but it’s now possible to see how I can sew all these elements of the quilt together – attach elements, but then open the edges so I can sew the next piece then resew the end of the seam – in other words: partial seams. I now know what the measurements for these corner segments are as well since I’ve been able to fit in the first of the eight which fit between the on-point border and the corner square.

So now, back to embroidery and seminole piecing!

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Just finished piecing the remaining two parts of the on-point border. Now you can see the effect I’m after. I also added in a narrow (finished width-1/4″) orange/gold border which ties in the center panel with the corners (see lower right corner). I’ve prepped the four corner drunkard’s path blocks – they’re next on the to do list. I’ve added fusible web to the curlicues – I’ll cut them out during the US Open Tennis this afternoon, fuse them to the blocks, then top stitch them and add the embroidery to the curved seam on that block. I’ve also pieced enough fabric to cut and assemble the seminole strips.

On-point Border Pieced

As you can see, there are still gaps between the plain border sections and the corner block…. I want to extend those sections and insert the seminole strip in the middle – the challenge is how to assemble all of that – I’m going to have to work with partial seams! What I don’t know yet are the dimensions I need for that spacer block (with the seminole strip) to have the corner come out correctly. It would be easy to piece it in the conventional way were it possible to put a seam across the seminole strip but I want that strip in a single piece from the wide on-point border to the corner!

I have no idea how to assemble these corner sections. I’m postponing that problem-solving until after I have all the seminole strips stitched and the corner blocks finished.